CHAPTER 75: TEARS BEHIND ROSE II

"I–I thought he’d run to his mother when Rose appeared," Andy added, wiping at his sweat with his bound hands.

"But that boy... he was afraid of her. After that, I never came back. I—I had already given up at that point."

"So you abandoned her once she was no longer useful to you?"

Andy nodded his head in silence.

"If you were so broke, then why the hell did you pay for her plastic surgery?" Damian yelled from behind, his voice sharp with disbelief.

Then he resumed savoring his hamburger. He had been starving after hunting down Andy at the gambling den around town.

Beside him, Rowan sat with his eyes closed, his arms crossed, leaning back in the steel chair, resting. But his ears remained tuned to Kane’s interrogation.

"No, I—I wasn’t the one who paid for surgery. I only persuaded her to change her face, and I got my money from that."

Kane narrowed his eyes at Andy in disgust. He had used a woman just to get money.

"Who did you get the money from? And why would they go to such lengths?" Kane asked, leaning in close to his face.

"There was an offer," Andy said shakily. "A lot of money—for whoever could bring them a woman with brown hair and green eyes.

I just pretended to like Rose and persuaded her to take the offer so we could split the money. They said a new life among the Hales would bring in even more cash. Besides, Avelina had a rich husband who was a doctor."

"Enough with the ’they.’ Just tell me who’s behind this—who paid you?" Kane snapped.

Andy turned his eyes away, his mouth clamped shut. He didn’t dare utter a name.

Kane glanced at Rowan. He was staring at them.

Then he leaned slightly and whispered a warning.

"You’d better start talking before—"

He didn’t get to finish his sentence before Rowan rose from his chair.

"Well," Kane said with a smirk as he took a few steps back. "Good luck."

He raised two fingers to his brow and gave a mocking salute.

At first, Andy didn’t understand what Kane meant.

Then he heard the crunch of footsteps behind him, slowly drawing nearer. His breathing grew heavy just from the sound.

When Rowan came into view, his presence carried a terrifying aura that made Andy’s whole body shake.

Rowan bent down, locking his gaze onto Andy’s trembling eyes.

In a low, frightening voice, Rowan asked, "Who paid you?"

Andy shook his head frantically.

"I–I can’t say the name," Andy stammered. "They’ll kill my family..."

Rowan realized Andy wouldn’t talk easily, so instead of forcing him, he decided to use a subtler method.

Damian stepped forward and handed him a small metal box.

Andy’s breathing grew heavy the moment he saw it. His restless eyes followed every movement of Rowan’s hands as he slowly opened the box.

A golden needle glinted inside.

Andy sucked in a sharp breath. "W–what are you going to do with that needle?"

He shrank back the moment Rowan picked one up. He could imagine exactly what Rowan wanted to do with that four-inch needle.

Damian caught Andy from behind, pinning his arms.

His eyes went wide in terror as the needle drove slowly into the tip of his finger, piercing straight into the nerve.

"Akkkh! S–stop! Akkkh!" Andy screamed.

When Rowan stopped pressing the needle, Andy’s screams weakened into hoarse gasps.

His voice was calm as he asked, "Who’s behind all of this?"

Then he pushed the needle in a little deeper.

Andy screamed and struggled wildly. The pain was too much.

"I’ll talk! I’ll talk! It’s Volkhan... Madam Volkhan!"

Rowan frowned. He had expected a different name. Instead of Kiera Dray, Andy had said Volkhan.

"Do not lie to me." Rowan said coldly.

"I-I told you, it’s Volkhan! I’m not lying!" Andy sobbed.

Rowan picked up another needle and pressed it slowly into the tip of his other finger.

"Akkkkh!" Andy screamed again.

Rowan continued. One by one, he drove needles into all of fingers. Each scream tore through the room, but the answer remained the same.

Slowly, Rowan stepped back.

Andy lost control from the extreme pain and fear. Sweat drenched his clothes, and he couldn’t control himself, wetting his pants.

"Call the police," Rowan commanded, and Damian immediately pulled his phone from his pocket.

He called the police, and it didn’t take long for them to arrive. Damian filed a report about Andy and handed over all the evidence.

They remained in the small town until the next day, when the police summoned Damian to the station.

The investigation revealed that Andy had been drowning in massive debt to an underground gambling den.

Desperate for money, he had sold one of Rose’s eyes and one of her kidneys directly to black-market dealers before he planned to kidnap Dominic.

Andy admitted that Rose had once been perfectly sane, but after being forced to take excessive hallucinogenic pills, she had slowly lost her mind.

That night, Kane returned to the nightclub to meet Red about the deal.

The madam led him to the usual room where Red was waiting. She was lying lazily across the bed.

She knew Kane hadn’t come for pleasure.

"Well," he said calmly, "we don’t need the clues anymore."

Red’s heart sank when she heard that they no longer needed her help. Her chance to escape this place shattered in an instant.

"Then why did you come if there’s nothing else?" she asked bitterly.

"Who said there’s nothing?" Kane replied coolly. "The boss has a new offer for you... but whether you take it or not is up to you."

Red straightened at once and sat up on the bed.

"What offer?"

"The boss will pay for your release," Kane said. "He’ll give you enough money for a fresh start. You’ll be free to live however you want."

Her eyes lit up the moment she heard the word free.

"But there’s one condition."

Red’s smile froze.

Kane finished evenly, "You’ll take Rose with you and become her legal guardian."

...

Lyra carefully dressed Rose, making her look as beautiful as she could. Today, Rose would follow her friend to a new place, where a new life awaited her.

Lyra gently tugged at Rose’s hair as she finished fixing it.

"Look how beautiful you are," she whispered, lifting the mirror toward Rose.

She felt as if God had lent Rose to her for a moment. Just long enough to ease the deep ache she had carried for Avelina.

She pulled Rose into a tight embrace. But Rose did not return it. She still didn’t understand anything about the world around her.